Retail environments offering shoppers access to more than a single market category are well known. Such environments are subject to the constraints imposed by the physical size of the environments. Only a defined amount of space is available and choices must be made as to how much of the available space may be allocated to each particular category of goods as well as to the determination of the relative locations of each type of goods with regard to all, or any other categories of goods.
Categories of goods are arranged within environments based upon past experience and historical sales figures as well as incentives offered by the suppliers of goods to the retailer. What is desired is a systematic way of optimizing the allocation and arrangement of market categories within a retail environment.